Veteran Kansas City Star reporter Diane Stafford hit the nail on the head today with her story “Business World is Awash in Buzzwords,” where she thoroughly reviewed and analyzed the wide variety of buzzwords used by businesses that often make little sense to anyone outside their own industry.
Stafford opened her article with the lede, “A press release announces a ‘differentiated value proposition.’”
The buzzword issue has been one that has infected businesses for years, and is one that professional public relations practitioners have to deal with on a daily basis.
Many PR people think that using industry buzzwords in a news release makes them sound more powerful and more knowledgeable. In reality, the news organizations often find them unreadable and undecipherable.
If news people don’t understand your company jargon, they are much more likely to ignore your release.
Sometimes the problem is that PR staffers feel they must put industry buzzwords in news releases in order to get releases approved by management. Big mistake.
To many in management saying that “Our new widget will truly differentiate us and provide value-added deliverables and a paradigm superior to our competitors” sounds better than “Our new widget is unique and will deliver benefits to customers.” They are wrong.
PR professionals know that news releases should highlight the key aspects of the news being disseminated. Releases should follow the famous who, what, where, when and how rule. They should be written so someone outside of the industry can easily understand them and publish it.
That means PR pros sometimes need to explain to management how a news release should be written. It is not an internal document. It is going out to a news media that might not know anything about your business.
Commercial Message: At Bottom Line Communications we have been producing powerful news releases for more than 20 years with a miniumum of jargon and industry buzzwords. We can explain to management the importance of delivering a clear message to readers/viewers. Email us.
Is there a way we can optimize the synergies inherent in multifaceted potentialities inherent on the bottom line?
Thanks. I needed a good laugh today. May the Fourth be with you….
The only nitpick I would have with this, John, is that a news release “is not an internal document.” It very much can be as internal politics dictates the tone and direction of the news release. And sometimes, the best you can do as a PR pro is find the least bad compromise. Oh, and from your commercial message - isn’t “powerful” a buzzword?
Good points, Lorell. I hate you….
Good column by Diane Stafford and one very much in order these days. I think most Americans have had enough of the corporate double-talk and the usual blah-blah-blah.